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Water crystals sound really, really great based on the reports I've read here... so my question is, why don't more people use them? Why do so many people recommend plain vermiculite or 50/50 mix to newbies interested in giving casing a try?

CrYsTaLship420 - Vermiculite on the bottom, crumble the cakes on top of the Verm layer, then add a layer of water crystals. No, they don?t get contaminated.

cactus-casing with water crystal is a very new idea . This is why you don?t here much about it. But, casing with things like peat-moss, vermiculite, soils, etc..goes back many years. So most people use the old time tested methods, which is why they are recommended.I?m just offering a alternative with water crystals.

------------------"I think of myself as an intelligent, sensitive human being with the soul of a clown which always forces me to blow it at the most important moments." J.M.

I'm definitely intrigued by your water-crystal casing method... man, if I thought using perlite for terrarium humidifcation made me feel "space-age", water-crystals takes that feeling to a whole new level!

Can you give us any specific info on your water crystal casings vs. other standard casing materials like vermiculite, 50/50 mix, etc.? Are they yields noticably better? Have you done any side by side comparisons?

A friend of mine claims to have used water crystals, this is what he says:

"A teaspoon of water crystals was thrown in a bowel of water with a bit of peroxide, in about five minutes the crystals had greatly grown in size and looked like a white slimy mixture.

A pint jar of ecuador mycelium was cased with the grown crystals and left to incubate at 86F with about 80% humidity. After a week the mycelium had not grwn through the crystals and the casing was put in the fruiting terrarium.

The tray did not contaminate, and ended up fruiting sparsely.

The only complaint with the crystals seems to be that if you do not have the correct temp or humidity, they will shrink and turn yellowish, therefore leaving your mycelium layer exposed making it difficult to rewater the crystals."